The Puppet's Song
by kairi's friend
Summary: Ever wondered how the Puppet came to join the Fazbear franchise? Partly inspired by the Pixar song "Lava," this three-shot explains how our favorite Marionette came to be.
1. Part 1

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the FNAF games or the song "Lava." I just came up with this idea in my head for an origin story for the Puppet and thought I would write it down.**

A long, long time ago - well, more like a few decades ago - a robotic puppet opened his black eyes to see a human man gazing down at him, a huge smile on his face. The Puppet blinked and looked around him. The human told him they were in a garage, and the human had just brought the Puppet to life. After practicing sitting up and moving around, the man hooked his creation up to a charging station, and with one more proud grin, he disappeared through a door.

The Puppet sat there for a long time. As he felt electric energy surging through him, he examined his black body, the white rings around his arms and legs, the buttons on his chest. When the door opened again, he turned his head in that direction - he was surprised to see not the man, but two smaller versions of him: one with long hair and wearing a dress, the other with short hair like the inventor and wearing a T-shirt and shorts. They smiled at him and called themselves children.

"Children," the Puppet repeated, his face forming a smile.

The children gasped. Then, they laughed. They asked him more questions, telling him they never met a robot as smart as him before. He eagerly answered them and began to ask them things about the man and if he brought the children to life. Giggling, they said he was their father, but they hardly saw him anymore, as he was too busy working all the time. The Puppet frowned, but they assured him he had nothing to do with their father. It was okay, they added, they could spend more time with their friends.

"Friends?" the Puppet echoed.

The door to the garage opened. The inventor poked his head in. When he saw the kids talking to his creation, he hurried them back inside the house. The Puppet called out, asking the man if he could see the children again tomorrow. The inventor stared at the Puppet. It can talk, he kept saying, a grin spreading on his face. Ignoring the question, he went back inside the house, announcing that his latest creation could talk on its own.

No one else came into the garage that night.

* * *

For weeks, the inventor kept coming in the garage, asking the Puppet more questions and fiddling with some of his gears. The Puppet didn't like it, but he was no more than the inventor's creation, right? He had to do whatever the inventor said.

Still, on the days when he wasn't hooked up to the charging station, he made his way to the door leading to the house and opened it a crack. He could hear the children's laughter and delighted squeals before he saw them chasing each other around the house or playing with toys. Even though the inventor told him to stay in the garage and away from the children, the Puppet felt something inside him, something that made his gears turn faster at the thought of making these children laugh and squeal. He wanted to play games with them, and make those sounds called "songs," and bang his hands on that black and white thing called a "pee-ano." He wanted to chase them around the house until he caught one and tossed them in the air, laughing and smiling along.

The inventor came into view and noticed the Puppet peeking inside the house. Hurrying over to shut the door, he hissed that no one could ever see his creations, not even his family.

Day after day, the Puppet sat in the garage, hearing the playful noises and songs inside the house and wishing that he could play, too. From deep inside him, somewhere past all the gears and wires and electric currents, his longing grew and grew. It grew to the point that he could no longer contain his feelings, he had to say it out loud. He opened his mouth and sang:

" _I have a dream_

 _I hope will come true_

 _That you're here with me_

 _And I'm here with you_

 _I wish that the earth and the sky up above me_

 _Will send someone to be my buddy_ "

Little did he know that the children had their ears pressed to the door to the garage and heard the Puppet's song. With one glance at each other, they knew they had to get in there to see him again.

* * *

The next day, the Puppet was surprised to see the two children enter the garage. They told him to keep his voice down: their father didn't know they were in here and would get mad if he found out. The Puppet smiled and promised he wouldn't. From behind his back, the little boy brought out a board game. After teaching the Puppet how to play (and laughing every time the Puppet messed up), the three of them played for an hour. Next, they taught him hand games like "Down By the Banks" and they played for a while before the children had to go back inside the house for dinner.

As the night fell, the Puppet closed his eyes, beaming at the memories of playing with the children, finally having friends. He sang aloud:

" _I have a dream_

 _I hope will come true_

 _That you'll stay with me_

 _And I'll stay with you_

 _I wish that the good inventor will finally_

 _Let me join this nice family_ "

Little did he know that the inventor had seen his kids come in from the garage and now heard this song. Anger grew inside him. How dare his children disobey him! This was his puppet, his only to control!

He would see that would all change in the morning.


	2. Part 2

Later the next day, the inventor came into the garage to perform more tests on the Puppet. He had to make sure it was at its optimal performance, he said, as he was going to bring it to an exhibit and sell him.

In an outburst, the Puppet sat up on the experiment table he had been lying on, knocking some papers and tools to the ground. "I don't want to leave!" he said. "If I go, I can't see the children again."

Narrowing his eyes, the inventor told him the children were none of his concern. They were not his children, would never be his children, and he had no control over what they did.

The Puppet pleaded, "Please, don't take me away! I love hearing the children play! I love seeing how happy they are! Don't make me leave!"

Slamming his fist on the table, the inventor spat that the Puppet was **his** creation, was **his** property. He had no business wishing for friends or family when the inventor had other plans for him.

Electricity pumped through the Puppet's wires, giving him a surge of energy. He curled his fingers into fists.

The inventor continued, saying how the Puppet was nothing more than that: a puppet. A little project the inventor thought up while in college, nothing more than a piece of equipment to accomplish certain tasks or serve as party entertainment. It was never meant to be part of a family, and would never join the inventor's or anyone else's family!

It wasn't until the inventor doubled over holding his bloody nose that the Puppet realized he punched him. Spitting curses, the inventor charged at the Puppet, knocking him to the ground. He snatched the nearest tool off the floor he could grab and started swiping at the Puppet, scraping his face in a couple places and knocking a couple screws loose. He begged for the inventor to stop, but the human kept attacking him.

Two small voices shouted for their daddy to stop, and the inventor stopped for a moment, his hand poised over the Puppet's face, glaring at the door. He told the kids to leave him alone or so help him he would ground them for a month. No, the kids whined, don't do that.

Detecting the fear in the children's voices, the Puppet reached up and shoved the inventor off of him. "You leave those children alone!" he said, knocking the screwdriver out of the man's hand.

With a deranged growl, the inventor reached up, curling his fingers around the Puppet's throat - which didn't really do anything. The Puppet could hear the children screaming, begging for their father to stop. The Puppet narrowed his eyes. Nothing messed with those children. Nothing.

He started swiping at the inventor and hitting him. "Stay away from the kids!" he said, lashing out again and again at the inventor. It wasn't until he heard someone calling his name that he stopped, stared at the man beneath him. The inventor's face was all scratched up, his nose bloody and broken, his eyes black and purple. A trickle of blood flowed towards his hair. The Puppet looked up at the children, saw the shocked, horrified expression on their faces. What had he done?

"I'm sorry," he said before standing up, running past them into the house. A woman screamed when he entered the kitchen, but he hurried past her. He heard the children calling for him to stop. After all these weeks, he finally got to play chase with the children, but he wasn't having any fun now. Please, the kids cried, don't leave.

No matter which door he tried, the Puppet couldn't find an escape. Finally, the very last door he tried opened up to outside. Leaving it open wide, he dashed outside and sprinted down the street. He could hear the kids behind him, screaming for him to come back. The Puppet didn't stop running, not until an alarm in his mind alerted him to a low battery. Hugging himself, he wished that there was a place he could go to where he would be safe...and not alone. But the only place he knew of that had a charging station was the garage, but he didn't want to go back there, not when he made a mess of things.

Hours of wandering all alone, he finally took shelter behind a pizza place. It was really late at night, and his battery was running dangerously low. Sitting down among the trash cans and boxes of discarded junk, the Puppet looked up at the sky, at the sparkly white dots. He stared sadly up at the stars as he hugged his knees to his chest. He could feel the electric current in his wires fade away, his gears slowing down. If he was going to shut down, at least he could die gazing up at something beautiful.

A white light streaked across the sky. It was so pretty. With a sad little smile, the Puppet closed his eyes and sang aloud one last time:

" _I have a dream_

 _I hope will come true_

 _That you're here for me_

 _And I'm here for you_

 _I wish that the earth and the sky up above me_

 _Will send someone to be my buddy_ "

Bang.

He opened his eyes.

BANG.

What was that?

BANG!

A box toppled off a trash can and onto him, burying him beneath a mound of junk. He tried to push the box off of him, at least get the rotten banana peel out of his eyes, but his limbs were getting stiffer. He just lay there, listening to the sound of whirring gears.

Wait, whirring gears?

Tilting his head to the side, the Puppet could see two legs walking in his direction. They were kind of big and brown and...metallic? "Hello?" said a deep voice. "Anyone out here?"

The Puppet opened his mouth - but his voice was all gone. He didn't have enough energy to speak. He wept silently, tears of motor oil trickling down to the ground, pooling under his head, leaving purple streaks on his face. Here was his chance to make a friend, and he couldn't move or talk. Maybe he was never meant to have friends. Maybe he should have just stayed in that garage and let that inventor do whatever he wanted. At least he wouldn't be left to die all alone.

Just when he gave up all hope, the Puppet heard the metal person singing:

" _I have a dream_

 _I hope will come true_

 _That you're here for me_

 _And I'm here for you_

 _I wish that the earth and the sky up above me_

 _Will send someone to be my buddy_ "

It was his song. The person was singing the Puppet's song. Maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought. With his last ounce of energy, he maneuvered his hand so it stuck out a little from under the box. Before long, the box lifted, and the last thing the Puppet saw before shutting off was a dark shadow looking down at him.


	3. Part 3

A long, long time after that - well, five days later, to be exact - the robotic puppet opened his eyes to see a bunch of other robots staring down at him. "Did it work?" asked the small chicken. Or was she a duck?

"I hope so," said the little boy holding onto a balloon string. "It would be nice to have another friend to talk to."

"Friend?" the Puppet said. He lifted a hand to his face, touching it lightly and wondering at the fact that, though he spoke clearly, his mouth didn't move.

"Oops," said the purple bunny. "Sorry. I thought I brought you back to normal, but I think I messed up with the facial programming." He slouched over, staring glumly at the floor.

"That's alright," the Puppet said, surprising everyone with how easily he sat up.

"You're lucky I found you when I did," the bigger bear in the room said. "I heard someone singing, and I love music, so I went outside to see who was there."

"You had just shut down when he brought you inside," the smaller, lighter-brown bear added.

The Puppet slid off the table and wrapped his arms around the big bear in a hug, like the children used to do to him. "Thank you, Bear," he said.

"You're welcome," he said, returning the hug. "But my name's Freddy." All the animatronics introduced themselves, and when they asked for his name, he just said he was known as the Puppet.

"Well, Puppet," the white fox known as Mangle said, "welcome to the family."

"Family?" If he could smile bigger, he would. But an oily tear did trickle down his face.

"Of course, mate," Foxy said, slapping him on the back with his normal hand. "You're one of us now."

The Puppet felt electricity shoot through his wires.

From that day on, the Puppet lived and worked at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. The animatronics found an unused box for him to spring out of and surprise the kids. None of the employees knew how he got there, but all the children loved him, so they let him be. He felt joy glow inside him as he made children laugh and squeal with delight with his tricks. He also found out that Freddy had been patrolling the restaurant at night to keep out intruders when he heard the Puppet singing outside the back door, and that he didn't mean to knock everything over when he came outside. The Puppet didn't hold a grudge. He was just happy to find a place where he belonged.

One day, when it was after hours, and moonlight poured through the glass windows in the front room, the Puppet wandered the restaurant, wondering where the others were. He turned into the party room - all the animatronics shouted, "Surprise!" They withdrew a sign that read "Congratulations" and everyone, including Cupcake, wore party hats.

Something fluttered in the Puppet's chest. "What's this for?"

Toy Freddy said, "It's March 2, 1987. Exactly one year from when we found you and Bonnie fixed you up."

"You...you remembered?"

"Of course we remembered," Mangle said, throwing an arm around him in a hug. When she let go, she rested a paw on his back, gesturing to the group with the other. "We told you you're one of us now. We won't let anything happen to you while you're part of the family."

It was a good thing his face couldn't move any more - otherwise it would have broken from how widely he'd be smiling. Everyone came together in a huge group hug, and the Puppet sang once more, his voice loud and clear:

" _I have a dream_

 _I hope will come true_

 _That I'll never be_

 _Far apart from you_

 _I thank the earth, the sky, and the stars up above me_

 _For letting me join this great family_ "

* * *

 _ **Epilogue**_

The new security guard glares at "The Mangle." He can't understand why any child could like it, it was so ugly. Half of it had been pulled out of its frame, and the rest of it was beaten up and dirty with oil and grease stains. He spits at the broken fox, kicking it over. He continues making his way to the security office.

It grows eerily silent. It only takes him a moment to realize the music box stopped. Since he has to pass by the prize counter to get to the office, he decides to duck into the room and rewind the box manually. Something creaks behind him, and when he turns around he swears he can see the lid of the big black box lifting up. His pulse quickens as he turns back to the box and twists the knob a couple times to restart it. As he exits the room, he wonders why he's letting his fancy get the better of him.

He feels something watching him. But when he glances over his shoulder, he only sees the darkened hallways of the pizza place. With a grunt, he pulls up his belt and resumes walking. Out of all possible shifts, why was he given the night one? All the rumors about this place swarm to the front of his mind, but he just frowns and shakes all those thoughts away. Finally in the office, he sits in the swivel chair, puts his feet up on the desk, folds his hands on his protruding belly. His eyes threaten to flutter shut, but before he dozes off, he figures he should at least check the cameras so he can say he actually did something on his first day working.

Keeping the flashlight and mask close by (two precautions the previous night guard recommended), he browses through all the camera screens on the computer. Everything looks fine on stage, in the party room, in the hallway -

His heart pounds when the screen shows the Puppet half out of his box in the prize room. It occurs to him then how quiet it is. Didn't he rewind the music box? Thankfully it was rigged so he could wind it up from the office. In a few seconds, he can hear the childlike melody again. He checks the other screens - but not even half a minute later the music is cut off. He checks the prize counter camera again.

The music box is broken, wires coming out of it and a couple sparks flashing. What's worse is the box is completely open, and the Puppet is gone.

His pulse quickens as he checks all the other cameras for anything else strange - he jumps when he sees the Puppet standing in one of the hallways, staring at the camera. Shuddering, the new guard curses under his breath and keeps checking the other cameras. So much for getting a good night's sleep.

When he checks another hallway, he gasps. The Puppet is staring into this camera, too. And he is coming closer to the office.

Grabbing the flashlight and the mask, the guard slips under the desk, trying to quiet his breathing and slow his heart rate. There is no way the Puppet is coming for him, right? It must be a coincidence. Maybe this is a prank another employee is doing to him. Is this how they greet new employees?

Faint metal footsteps, getting louder and louder. Something is coming closer. Beads of sweat form on his forehead as he grips the flashlight tight in his hands. He flinches when he hears someone sing, "Oh where, oh where can that night guard be? Oh where, oh where can he be? He was mean to my friend, so he'll meet his end. Oh where, oh where, can he-"

Achoo.

He curses in his mind, but all anger at himself dissipates into fear when he notices how buzzingly silent the room has gotten. He does not dare poke his head out to check the room, for fear of what he might find. Nothing happens for a while - he stifles a gasp when long, black fingers appear and curl under the desk. Quickly, he slips the Freddy mask on. Right after, a pale face appears, purple streaks coming from its eyes. "Peekaboo," the Puppet says. "I found you.

He opens his mouth to scream, but the Puppet lunges at him and everything goes black.


End file.
